TAMPA, Fla. — People packed Wednesday’s open house on the redesign of El Prado Blvd. in Tampa.
The line stretched out the door of Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library at times and into a room so crowded it was tough to move around. Residents looked at maps of the project and were able to talk with city staff and others involved.
“I can’t believe that they’re actually going to put these bike lanes in,” said Mike Brabant, who lives in the area of the project.
“Tampa’s booming, and they’re taking lanes away,” said resident George Siegal.
“We’re so opposed to this scenario on the bike path,” said Victor Cucuz, owner of Carpet Crafters Rug Company on El Prado.
According to the city, El Prado is currently a four-lane divided road. The project would turn one lane in each direction into a six-foot wide bike lane with a three-foot buffer. Tampa Mobility Director Brandon Campbell said the $6 million project would also include new sidewalks and safety upgrades, like a new crosswalk and push button crossing at Bayshore Blvd.
“I was hoping we would get a setting maybe to meet with people from the city council, maybe the mayor, and get a chance to stop this project, but what I’ve learned from being inside is they’re just doing this to placate people,” Siegal said of the open house. “They’re trying to explain it to us, but they’ve already made a decision to go forward.”
Campbell said construction is expected to begin next month. He said the open house was a chance for residents to talk about the project with people connected to it, express concerns, and learn about the context behind it.
“What we really hope people come away from this meeting with is a full understanding of how this project was thoughtfully designed to balance the needs of all users,” he said.
A number of people at the open house told Spectrum News they’re concerned fewer lanes will mean more congestion.
“It makes no sense,” said Cucuz. “It’s gonna take away from parking, it’s gonna take away from our business environment, it’s gonna slow traffic down.”
Some questioned what kind of use the bike lanes would get.
“On the weekends, okay, but during the weekdays? Nobody’s going to be using them,” said Brabant.
When it comes to congestion, Campbell said traffic counts for El Prado from 2018 to 2024 ranged from 3,000-8,000 cars a day.
“As it stands, a four-lane roadway generally is designed to handle about 20,000 cars a day, and we have less than half that demand on El Prado,” he said.
Campbell said the city is confident the new design will handle the existing demand and have room for growth. When it comes to public input, he said two online public engagement sessions were held during the design process and did lead to change.
“In particular, the area around Concordia maintained two lanes in each direction because people said, ‘Hey, Roosevelt Elementary has a queuing issue here, and we need to accommodate it,'” he said.
“I’m just really frustrated,” said Siegal. “I wish that we had a say.”
According to Campbell, because the project is considered already under construction, any new alterations to plans would have to come from a change order.